Standing on their shoulders

We at Veritas magazine try not to discern between STEM people — or those who pursue science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) — and non-STEM people. Our audience is the student body: not students taking AP science classes, not students with scientist parents, not even students who know what the four-letter acronym stands for, just students.

But after juggling robotics, Science Olympiad and science journalism, among other fantastic feats of STEMasochism, I dare anyone to dispute that I am, in fact, a STEM person. My colleagues likely identify the same way, and each of us have our reasons for taking on this identity in the first place. I had two significant overworked, middle-aged ones of my own.

My parents both work at home co-managing a software startup company, and while aspiring to be a software developer was my choice, their constant squabbling about the latest bad hire or broken feature actually endeared me to that choice. For the past three and a half years, I’ve surrounded myself with STEM enthusiasts whose parents influenced their path as well. Do these observations reflect the larger Palo Alto High School community? Does having a parent in one of those fields increases one’s chance of following suit? If so, by what process? To what degree?

6In order to find answers, I surveyed a cross section of 185 Paly students* about their career-related interactions with their parents, and each generation’s relationship with STEM pursuits. Whether you’re nodding your head in solidarity or nodding off in boredom, I hope the resulting data tells your story as much as it tells mine.

1. Going against the grain

2. More parents, more influence

Dividing respondents based on which of their parents held down STEM jobs yielded statistically significant evidence that those with one STEM parent were more likely to rate themselves as interested or strongly interested in STEM fields than those with none (p < 0.05)*, and similarly for those with two STEM parents compared to those with
one (p < 0.05).
* Surveying was conducted...